New Lanesborough ZBA Chair Says He's Ready to Listen
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Zoning Board of Appeals looks to vote on a new chair after their former chair resigned.
William Matthiesen was to be voted in as chair at the last meeting, on Wednesday, but the meeting did not have a quorum. He is expected to be elected at the next meeting. He is stepping in following the resignation of Mark Seigars after a heated ZBA meeting in February.
Matthiesen has been in the Berkshires since 1966. He graduated from Williams College and is a self-taught film maker, owning Berkshire Film and Video. He was on the Planning Board a couple years prior and had indicated on his departure that he was willing to serve the town again if needed.
While there was no meeting, he stayed to introduce himself to anyone who walked in and inform that the next board meeting would be the Planning Board on Monday, May 18, encouraging residents to attend.
Matthiesen felt it was very important to come onto the board at a difficult time, pointing to the contentious meeting on short-term rentals, leading to lawsuits against the town. He hopes to help people feel heard.
"I feel one of the really important things right now is to make people heard," he said. "We need to listen to people find out what's going on. The solutions aren't always easy, but if people don't feel that they're hurt and understood and paid attention to that makes them angry."
When asked how he will deal with contentious issues, he said he doesn't mind listening to those who are angry as he can put himself in their shoes.
"I have a high tolerance for taking anger from people. I'm able to listen to people and angry people. And I found, you know, if you don't take offense and you try to see things from their point of view, that really helps a lot," he said. "It doesn't totally take care of the problem. It doesn't take care of the problems at all lots of times, but it chills them out somewhat. They feel like they're not being against a brick wall."
Matthiesen said he loves Lanesborough and would like for everyone to get along, even though it may be difficult at times. He said he has help from people at town hall who he says are great to work with.
"I don't have anything specific I want for the town, except for people to get along and appreciate the lovely town we have. So I think I'm the right person right now. I might not always be, and I have a lot of help from people at town hall, so it's not all on my shoulders, and that's really good," he said.
He said the best thing he can do is to help make people feel heard and that their opinions matter.
"I think having patience with people, being willing to hear their anger, being willing to make them feel heard and valued. That is huge."
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